Pickleball paddle

ABSTRACT

A pickleball paddle includes a paddle body and a handle. The paddle body includes a substrate and two face plates on front and rear sides thereof. An elastic member is provided between the substrate and each of the two face plates. The elastic member between the substrate and the face plate is configured to reduce the reaction force generated by the ball hitting the face plate and prolong the time that the ball stays on the face plate. The user can control the trajectory of the ball better. It enhances entertainment fun.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELAYED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part application of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/006,920, “PICKLEBALL PADDLE”, filed on Aug. 31,2020.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a pickleball paddle, and moreparticularly to a pickleball paddle having a face plate capable ofcontrolling a ball without refraining the speed of returning the ball.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Pickleball is a very popular sport in Europe and America in recentyears, and it is the fastest growing sport in the world. Pickleball is apaddle sport (similar to a racquet sport) that combines elements ofbadminton, tennis, and table tennis. It has the advantages of interest,entertainment, diversified gameplay and adaptability, and graduallybecomes popular all over the world.

A conventional Pickleball paddle includes two face plates and asubstrate. The existing face plates are made of carbon fiber or glassfiber. The substrate is made of a harder plastic honeycomb board. Inthis way, the pickleball paddle can provide a better explosive forcewhen hitting a ball. Because the face plates and the substrate of thepaddle are made of harder materials, when the user swings the paddle tohit a ball, the paddle is instantly stressed. The vibration of theoverall paddle is relatively large, causing the user to feel unwell.Especially, after the face plate of the paddle is impacted by a force,the speed of returning the ball is fast, and the deformation of the faceplate is small (the contact area between the face plate and the ball issmall), so the ball stays on the face plate for a short time. As aresult, it is difficult for the user to control the direction of theball effectively, reducing the entertainment of the sport. The inventoronce proposed a solution to the problem. A rolling member is provided inthe existing face plate to directly hit the face plate, so that thepaddle can enhance its explosive force better. But, this will influencethe user's ability to control the ball. Based on this, in view of theexplosive force required by the existing pickleball paddle and the needto enhance the effectiveness of the direction control of the ball duringa shot, it is necessary to improve the existing pickleball paddles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, the primary object of thepresent invention is to provide a pickleball paddle with a face platecapable of controlling a ball without refraining the speed of hittingthe ball.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts thefollowing technical solutions:

A pickleball paddle comprises a paddle body and a handle. The paddlebody includes a substrate and two face plates on front and rear sidesthereof An elastic member is provided between the substrate and each ofthe two face plates for reducing the speed of a ball. At least onehollow cylindrical space is provided in the substrate. Either end of thehollow cylindrical space is tightly attached to the elastic member. Arolling member is provided in the hollow cylindrical space. The rollingmember is configured to roll back and forth along a longitudinaldirection of the hollow cylindrical space and hit the elastic member.

Preferably, an axis of the hollow cylindrical space is perpendicular tothe paddle body.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has obviousadvantages and beneficial effects. Specifically, it can be known fromthe above technical solutions.

Through the elastic member sandwiched between the substrate and the faceplate, the elastic member is used to reduce the reaction force generatedby the ball hitting the face plate and to increase the contact areabetween the face plate and the ball. Besides, at the moment of hittingthe ball, in cooperation with the design of the rolling member to hitthe elastic member due to inertia, the elastic member absorbs a part ofthe impact force generated by the rolling member and transmits it to theface plate, so as to appropriately increase the explosive force of theentire face plate. The user can control the trajectory of the ballbetter. It also has the explosive force of hitting the ball withoutloss, and enhances the sports function and entertainment fun.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in accordance with the preferredembodiment of the present invention in a state of not hitting a ball;and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in accordance with the preferredembodiment of the present invention in a state of hitting a ball.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, there is shown a specific structureof a preferred embodiment of the present invention, comprising a paddlebody 10 and a handle 20.

The paddle body 10 includes a substrate 11 and two face plates 12 onfront and rear sides thereof. An elastic member 13 is provided betweenthe substrate 11 and each of the two face plates 12. The elastic member13 is configured to absorb part of the reaction force when a ball 40hits the face plate 12, thereby reducing the speed of returning theball, providing a deformation space, increasing the contact area of theball 40 on the face plate 12, and prolonging the time that the ball 40stays on the face plate 12.

At least one hollow cylindrical space 101 is provided in the substrate11. Either end of the hollow cylindrical space 101 is tightly attachedto the elastic member 13. A rolling member 30 is provided in the hollowcylindrical space 101. The rolling member 30 is configured to roll backand forth along the longitudinal direction of the hollow cylindricalspace 101 and hit the elastic member 13. In the process of swinging thepaddle body 10 to hit the ball 40, the rolling member 30 impacts theface plate 12 due to inertia and transmits part of the impact force tothe face plate 12 through the elastic member 13, thereby appropriatelyincreasing the explosive force for the face plate 12 to hit the ball. Inthis embodiment, the face plate 12 is made of carbon fiber or glassfiber, and the elastic member 13 may be made of cork or other materials.The axis of the hollow cylindrical space 101 is perpendicular to theelastic member 13. The rolling member 30 may be plural. The rollingmember 30 may be made of metal or other materials. Besides, the rollingmember 30 may have a spherical, square or other shape, but not limitedthereto.

The use of this embodiment is described as follows:

When the user swings the paddle body 10 for hitting a ball, the paddleis speeded with certain acceleration by the user, and the rolling member30 in the hollow cylindrical space 101 is in close contact with the rearelastic member 13 due to inertia. When the paddle body 10 hits the ball40, at the moment the ball 40 hits the front face plate 12, the elasticmember 13 absorbs part of the impact force, reduces the speed of theball and increases the contact area between the ball and the face plateto control the ball effectively. As shown in FIG. 3, when the ball 40hits the front face plate 12, the front face plate 12 and the elasticmember 13 are slightly deformed backward. FIG. 3 is a microscopicschematic view. In fact, there is no such large deformation as shown inthe figure. Since the speed of the ball 40 hit by the elastic member 13is slowed down, the user can take advantage of the slowed speed and thelarger contact area to effectively control the direction of motion ofthe ball. At the same time, the rolling member 30 hits the front elasticmember 13 from the rear elastic member 13 at a constant speed due toinertia. At this time, the front elastic member 13 will offset a part ofthe instantaneous impact force generated by the rolling member 30 andwill transmit a part of the impact force to the front face plate 12. Thefront face plate 12 is subjected to the reaction force and the impactforce successively at the moment of hitting the ball, so that the frontface plate 12 as a whole can ensure a certain explosive force of hittingthe ball.

The feature of the present invention is that through the elastic membersandwiched between the substrate and the face plate, the elastic memberis used to reduce the speed of returning the ball hitting the face plateof the paddle and increase the contact area between the ball and theface plate. Besides, at the moment of hitting the ball, in cooperationwith the design of the rolling member to hit the elastic member due toinertia, the elastic member absorbs a part of the impact force generatedby the rolling member and transmits it to the face plate of the paddle,so as to appropriately increase the explosive force of the entire faceplate. The user can control the trajectory of the ball better at asufficient speed of returning the ball.

Although particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail for purposes of illustration, various modificationsand enhancements may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not to belimited except as by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pickleball paddle, comprising a paddle body anda handle, the paddle body including a substrate and two face plates onfront and rear sides thereof; an elastic member being provided betweenthe substrate and each of the two face plates, at least one hollowcylindrical space being provided in the substrate, either end of thehollow cylindrical space being tightly attached to the elastic member, arolling member being provided in the hollow cylindrical space, therolling member being configured to roll back and forth along alongitudinal direction of the hollow cylindrical space and hit theelastic member; wherein when a user swings the paddle body forward tohit a ball, the rolling member in the hollow cylindrical space is inclose contact with the elastic member on the rear side due to inertia;when the face plate of the paddle body hits the ball, the elastic memberprovides a deformation space to absorb part of an impact force to reducethe speed of the ball and to increase a contact area of the ball withthe face plate so as to control the ball effectively, due to inertia,the rolling member instantly hits the elastic member on the front sidefrom a position of the elastic member behind the hollow cylindricalspace, so that the elastic member on the front side receives the impactforce and then transmit it to the ball hitting the face plate on thefront side.
 2. The pickleball paddle as claimed in claim 1, wherein anaxis of the hollow cylindrical space is perpendicular to the paddlebody.